登陆注册
4132100000019

第19章 CHAPTER III.(3)

Knight made it known to the public he would be at home on Wednesdays and Thursdays, from two till six of the clock; and if any person of quality should send for him he would wait upon them at their lodgings. The disease must indeed have been rife: week after week those afflicted continued to present themselves, and we read that, towards the end of July, "notwithstanding all discouragements by the hot weather and the multitude of sick and infirm people, his majesty abated not one of his accustomed number, but touched full two hundred: an high conviction of all such physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries that pretend self-preservation when the languishing patient requires their assistance." Indeed, there were some who placed boundless faith in the king's power of healing by touch; amongst whom was one Avis Evans, whom Aubrey, in his "Miscellanies," records "had a fungus nose, and said it was revealed to him that the king's hand would cure him. And at the first coming of King Charles II. into St. James's Park, he kissed the king's hand, and rubbed his nose with it, which disturbed the king, but cured him."The universal joy which filled the nation at the restoration of his majesty was accompanied, as might be expected, by bitter hatred towards the leaders of Republicanism, especially towards such as had condemned the late king to death. The chief objects of popular horror now, however, lay in their graves; but the sanctity of death was neither permitted to save their memories from vituperation nor their remains from moltestation.

Accordingly, through many days in June the effigy of Cromwell, which had been crowned with a royal diadem, draped with a purple mantle, in Somerset House, and afterwards borne with all imaginable pomp to Westminster Abbey, was now exposed at one of the windows at Whitehall with a rope fixed round its neck, by way of hinting at the death which the original deserved. But this mark of execration was not sufficient to satisfy the public mind, and seven months later, on the 30th of January, 1661, the anniversary of the murder of Charles I., the bodies of Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, and John Bradshaw were taken from their resting places in Westminster Abbey, and drawn on hurdles to Tyburn, the well-known site of public executions. "All the way the universal outcry and curses of the people went along with them," says MERCURIUS PUBLICUS. "When these three carcasses arrived at Tyburn, they were pulled out of their coffins, and hanged at the several angles of that triple tree, where they hung till the sun was set; after which they were taken down, their heads cut off; and their loathsome trunks thrown into a deep hole under the gallows. The heads of those three notorious regicides, Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw, and Ireton are set upon poles on the top of Westminster Hall by the common hangman. Bradshaw placed in the middle (over that part where the monstrous high court of justice sat), Cromwell and his son-in-law Ireton on either side of Bradshaw."Before this ghastly execution took place, Parliament had brought to justice such offenders against the late king's government and life as were in its power. According to the declaration made by the king at Breda, a full and general pardon was extended to all rebellious subjects, excepting such persons as should be hereafter excepted by Parliament. By reason of this clause, some who had been most violent in their persecution of royalty were committed to the Tower before the arrival of his majesty, others fled from the country, but had, on another proclamation summoning them to surrender themselves, returned in hope of obtaining pardon. Thirty in all were tried at the Old Bailey before the Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer and a special jury of knights and gentlemen of quality in the county of Middlesex. Twenty-nine of these were condemned to death. The king was singularly free from desires of revenge; but many of his council were strangers to clemency, and, under the guise of loyalty to the crown, sought satisfaction for private wrongs by urging severest measures. The monarch, however, shrank from staining the commencement of his reign with bloodshed and advocated mercy. In a speech delivered to the House of Lords he insisted that, as a point of honour, he was bound to make good the assurances given in his proclamation of Breda, "which if I had not made," he continued, "I am persuaded that neither I nor you had now been here. I pray, therefore, let us not deceive those who brought or permitted us to come together; and I earnestly desire you to depart from all particular animosities and revenge or memory of past provocations." Accordingly, but ten of those on whom sentence of death had been passed were executed, the remainder being committed to the Tower. That they were not also hung was, according to the mild and merciful Dr. Reeves, Dean of Westminster, "a main cause of God's punishing the land" in the future time. For those destined to suffer, a gibbet was erected at Charing Cross, that the traitors might in their last moments see the spot where the late king had been executed. Having been half hung, they were taken down, when their heads were severed from their trunks and set up on poles at the south-east end of Westminster Hall, whilst their bodies were quartered and exposed upon the city gates.

同类推荐
  • The Innocents Abroad

    The Innocents Abroad

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 太上三五正一盟威阅箓醮仪

    太上三五正一盟威阅箓醮仪

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 崔浩

    崔浩

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 小匡

    小匡

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 天台传佛心印记注

    天台传佛心印记注

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 无毒不女配

    无毒不女配

    穿越成炮灰小女配,她能怎么办?当然是小命要紧啊!!!救命啊!--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 枫火戏余年

    枫火戏余年

    炎热的九月,开学的日子,军训的到来,学霸同桌和学渣相亲相爱的日子,青春
  • 重启高一

    重启高一

    张谭的脑子有点乱,似乎是重生了,十五年前,2001年的合淝市。但又似乎并不一样了,合淝市的淝啥时候多了三点水?……那一年北亰申奥成功,前门小店喝汽水不要钱。那一年国足世界杯出线,网吧老板给每人续费一小时。那一年热血传奇攻城夺寨,谁没玩过都不好意思说他会上网。那一年,张谭读高一。……那一年,人还是那些人,故事却已经不同。【新书《重卡战车在末世》,欢迎新老读者光临】
  • 仙索

    仙索

    每一次仙劫的产生,凡人死伤无数。三十三重天之上,有几多神仙?此合天道耶?既合天道,道又是何物?陈彦,凡人蝼蚁,天资平平,只因一个偶然的机会,踏入了修仙界,开始了他的求仙之路。“我在仙人眼中是一只渺小的蝼蚁,但在我眼中,仙人也只不过是强大一点的蝼蚁而已。我知道,终有一日,我会踏在三十三重天之上,俯视着这芸芸众生。”这是陈彦心中的信念。(热血爽文,请君慢慢品尝)
  • 管人用人要有“手腕”

    管人用人要有“手腕”

    手腕,是一种本领,一种能耐。如何管人用人历来是社会关注的焦点,因为在社会这个大的组织系统当中,除了最基层的群众,其他所有处于管理层次的人,都有自己的属下,都有一个如何处理与属下关系的问题。这个关系处理得好与坏,对于每一个管理者影响极大。因此,对于大多数人来说,管人,用人需要有本领、有能耐,即要有手腕。
  • 有你,时光恰好(完结篇)

    有你,时光恰好(完结篇)

    闪婚后的陶青春和须木泽,并没有如愿地过上王子与公主般的生活。儿子、弟弟、学长……似乎没有一个人看好他们,他们只能眼睁睁地看着对方走远却束手无策。陶青春身边有黑骑士保驾护航,须木泽身边亦有白富美虎视眈眈……难道他们只能举手投降?这是一场以爱为名的拉锯战,如有一人退却,那只会是两败俱伤。“我清楚地知道我所需要的男人,应该是能帮我实现梦想的另一半,而我也能为他付出所有。”为了成为小娇妻梦想中的另一半,须木泽重新踏上了漫漫的追妻之旅!
  • 丰富多彩的中国民俗

    丰富多彩的中国民俗

    中国自古就有“入国问禁,入乡随俗”的民间传统,民俗是最贴近身心和生活,并世世代代锤炼和传承的文化传统。《丰富多彩的中国民俗》以生动易懂的语言详细的介绍了各地各民族的一些风俗文化:正月十五闹花灯、二月二,龙抬头、三月三,遍地歌舞欢等不同的风俗节日。
  • 重生共同奋斗的小日子

    重生共同奋斗的小日子

    女主带着为末世准备的物资穿越到了五零年代过自己的小日子文文还瘦,希望有兴趣的小伙伴先收藏,然后养肥再杀!提醒一句:前文准备修改,可以直接从第九十二章开始看
  • 魅上绝色王爷:傻妃绝代

    魅上绝色王爷:傻妃绝代

    她是江湖第一冷魅杀手,洞房花烛却替人代嫁,他狠狠的捏着她的下巴,“本王真期待一个傻子在身下承欢的模样?”一纸休书沦落下堂弃妃,真相大白才痛苦悔恨,得到的却是她带着未出世的孩子坠落悬崖?江山为谋,才得知良人不在,拱手山河能否换回一世温柔?“娘子,执子之手,与子偕老,江山固然重要,却远不及一个你,愿得一心人,白首不相离
  • 吸血鬼的暗黑童话

    吸血鬼的暗黑童话

    吉月出生于明朝,她因意外与一个叫夕远的年轻男子相识相恋。夕远的身份神秘,时不时地让她充满疑惑。世事变迁,沧海桑田,他们最终会怎样?